Life is filled with so many interesting moments that I decided to create a regular conversation starter around the more entertaining observations. What’cha think?

How often do you stop and observe your surroundings?

Walking down a busy NYC street recently, I stopped to look at a lovely seating arrangement in the window of a high-end antique-auction house. Against the white fabric, was a dark spot. What is that? OMG. A large bug of some kind.

Laughing to myself, I went in to the store to find someone to share my observation. Surely, this could influence the bid price of the items.

The staff member and I laughed at the situation. The large bug was a fat fly that had flown in from the street. The seating arrangement had already been sold. Both updates were positive.

The staff thanked me for taking the time to tell them of the bug and for taking the time to notice their window display.

Life is filled with so many interesting moments that I decided to share a regular conversation starter around the more entertaining observations. What’cha think?

We interpret things as we see them framed—-Framed by our own minds.
The sad clown, painted by a family friend, made its’ way to our wall many years ago. While a sad clown is often associated with anger or unhappiness, our clown painting makes us smile every time we look at it……..reminding us not to take everything so literally. Our sad clown makes us smile because:

The earth tone paint colors further complimented by the bronze frame color provides warmth and approach-ability.

In our heads we look at the painting and think of our dear friend who painted the picture.

Looking at the oxymoron presented by a sad clown, we say to ourselves: “What-up clown : where’s the smile?”

B to B Marketers: do you spend as much time speaking with your direct buyer audience as you do speaking with your distribution channels ? Remember the game of telephone where we would each take a turn whispering a message to someone else; how often was the last person in the chain able to duplicate the original message?

The importance of being in touch with the ultimate end user cannot be under-estimated.

Life is filled with so many interesting moments that I decided to create a weekly conversation starter around one of the more entertaining observations made during the previous week. Nothing too complicated — fun to see how people answer the question.

Let me know what you think.

Words of wisdom from a recent media training class that I attended.

Be Brief

Be Brilliant

Be Gone

Sometimes, we talk too much. We are uncomfortable with the pregnant pause – the silence between conversations. Framed within the context of speaking to the media and not having full control over the comments or PARTS of your comments that will be published, the words ring true.

Probably a good piece of advice for many of our daily conversations as well. Do you agree?

#agreesharon Life is filled with so many interesting moments that I decided to create a weekly conversation starter around one of the more entertaining observations made during the previous week. Nothing too complicated — fun to see how people answer the question. Let me know what you think.

NOT an age thing More #millennials report experiencing age discrimination than Gen X and Boomers combined, per recent AARP Research. This represents huge opportunities for cross generational work flows.

Did you collaborate with someone today who has 10 or more years of age than you do? Let’s create some conversation – What was it like?

Life is filled with so many interesting moments that I decided to create a weekly conversation starter around one of the more entertaining observations made during the previous week. Nothing too complicated — fun to see how people answer the question.

Let me know what you think.

A business acquaintance recently referred to herself as a PIP – a “Previously Important Person”. While I chuckled, I was also saddened by the expression. With the daily transitions that each of us are making through professional responsibilities, child-rearing, parent caregiving, volunteer roles and more, we will often move into and out of the spotlight.

Regardless of the subject, the smart customer asks questions, and the smart customer service representative considers the best way to handle the inquiry themselves or to refer the request to a supervisor.

Let me share a great example of this:I have been looking to lower the annual premium on an insurance policy for many years. Every year, I get my bill. I cringe. I call. No change. Yes, the psychology of fear around your insurance coverage. This year, I call and am asked a few additional questions. Turns out there is a product that I qualify for that will give me more coverage for less money. REALLY!”How long has this product been offered” I ask. “Uhhhh. A while” says the representative sensing where this conversation is heading.

With a big smile that can be felt across the telephone, I ask: Can you see if a supervisor can review my files. It would seem that I have been eligible for a product that was never offered to me, even though I have been a loyal customer for many, many years and call you annually about options to reduce my premium.